April 16, 2024 • 16 mins
Dane Brugler's 2024 NFL Draft Guide is a must. So is his seven-round mock draft.
Dane joined us on ESPN1530 to talk about Bengals draft possibilities, the depth and quality at positions of need, and an evaluation he made two years ago of a current Bengal who's at a bit of a crossroads.
Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Follow on Twitter: @MoEgger
Email: mo@espn1530.com
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Dane joined us on ESPN1530 to talk about Bengals draft possibilities, the depth and quality at positions of need, and an evaluation he made two years ago of a current Bengal who's at a bit of a crossroads.
Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Follow on Twitter: @MoEgger
Email: mo@espn1530.com
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
No one covers the Bengals like ESPNfifteen thirty, Cincinnati's sports station. All
right, let's get right to it. There's no better NFL Draft guide than
the one published by Dan Brugler fromThe Athletic Get it right now at the
Athletic dot Com. Always great tohave you, Dan, How are you?
I'm good. I appreciate all thosekind words. It's the feedback's been
(00:21):
awesome. You know, you tryto you try to make it better,
bigger and better every year, andyou know, hopefully you know we've been
able to do that. Above all, I just I want the Draft guide
to be a resource. You know, even if you disagree with the player
or disagree with the ranking, youknow, that's that's fine, that's great.
But above all, I promise there'ssomething in there, whether it's background
(00:43):
information, some type of metric,the pro day testing for almost two thousand
players, there's something in here foreverybody. Whether you know you're a diehard
fan or just a casual NFL draftfan, this will be something you are
you're happy you have by your side, especially on draft weekend. Yeah.
Well, put, I love therankings, but more than anything, I'm
into the strengths and weaknesses and theevaluation, and so I printed last week.
(01:07):
I go right to page one hundredand eleven because the Bengals with the
eighteenth overall pick might take an offensivetackle. I want them to take a
tackle. The air apparent to JodahWilliams long term, and I feel like,
if you're going to build an offensiveline, that's got to happen through
the draft, especially when you havea quarterback making Joe Burrow money. And
so I go to the offensive tacklesand it's like it's like going to a
restaurant that has like a thousand thingson the menu that I want to order,
(01:30):
but I could only have one.So let's start there. If I'm
looking at the eighteenth overall pick throughthe lens of wanting an offensive tackle,
who's the guy that I'm hoping fallsto them AD eighteen? You know,
it's tough because we're going to seea lot of tackles come off the board,
There's no doubt about it in thefirst round. But who's going to
be left? You know how manytackles go in those first seventeen picks.
(01:53):
I think if I'm if I'm theBengals and obviously, I'm looking at at
right tackle to least fulographerm Moregon State, JC Latham from Alabama. Those two
guys are really appealing for me,as you know they can help from day
one. We move them inside theguard, you know they get on the
field in some type of capacity.I'm feeling really good about those two guys.
(02:17):
Now, if those two are offthe board, like I think there's
a good chance they could be,then we're looking at Amarus Mims. You're
looking at Tyler Guyton, two guysthat played right tackle in college, but
they are more They need more developmentbefore you're gonna feel super comfortable about them
being on the field. And therethe Bengals are set up in a situation
where they don't need someone to beout there from day one, but you
(02:38):
know what injuries happen, and doyou at least want your first round pick
to get on the field and getsome experience and not not embarrass you,
not embarrass himself. So I thinkit comes down to what their evaluation is
of Memes and Guiton and it's thisis a draft where offensive tackle falls off
a little bit. Now there's alwaysguys, a couple of guys you can
(03:00):
find on Day two, whether it'sa Blake Fisher from Notre Dame or Roger
rose Garden from Washington. I mean, there are some players, but the
demand will far outweigh the supply interms of offensive tackles outside after that eighteenth
pick. So I have my sevenround mock draft coming out this week on
the Athletic and that's the kind ofthe situation I fell into when I'm projecting
(03:23):
the Bengals. If they don't takethat tackle with the eighteenth pick, it
becomes tougher to find that guy forthem in rounds two, rounds three,
rounds four, and before you knowit, we're in round six and we're
drafting a purely development guy. Andthat's a situation they could find themselves in
if they don't take that tackle atpick number eighteen. Yeah, it's exactly
the sort of the way that I'velooked at it. And yet folks will
(03:46):
throw out other players at other positions, and so let's play. You know,
well, what if Byron Murphy,your top rated three technique defensive tackle,
if he's there at eighteen versus oneof the offensive tackle you talked about,
what's the move. I'm a firmbeliever in sticking to your board and
trusting it. You know, youput all this work in, let's you
(04:09):
know, let's stick to what webelieve. And that's why teams have the
vertical board, they have the horizontalboard. And you have to differentiate these
players even I mean, you can'thelp whether it's consciously or subconsciously need factoring
in to your decision making. Butabove all, in the first round,
(04:29):
you should want to come away withthe best available player and defensive tackle.
Even though you know they did makesome moves on that defensive line, it's
still a need area, and especiallyon the interior where you need someone that's
going to help so off the runand you want to get more interior disruption
and Byron Murphy does that. Asmuch as I do want to see a
right tackle, they're at eighteen,I think Byron Murphy might be the best
player that's realistically going to be availablefor them with that eighteenth pick. He
(04:55):
you know, the size, hedoesn't necessarily look like you want your first
round defensive hackle to look. He'ssix ones or six foot and a half,
around three hundred pounds, doesn't havesuper long arms, but he uses
that natural leverage to his advantage.He is a very as talented as he
is with his just physical tools,he's also very skilled with his hands.
(05:16):
That natural twitch that he has throughhis hips and his lower body gives him
this power that allows him to wingaps and he shuts down the run.
He's able to disrupt the backfield action. So I like that Byron Murphy.
If that's the direction they go inthe first round, I think it makes
a ton of sense for what theyneed on that defensive line and just maybe
(05:36):
being the best player available at thatpoint as well from an evaluator standpoint,
because you write up Byron Murphy andyou talk about, Look, the overall
statistical profile isn't great, it gotbetter every single year. If I'm looking
at defensive tackles, how much shouldI pay attention to statistics versus tape study,
(05:57):
measurables and the things that folks likeyourself really dive deep into. I
think for every position, it's thescouting motto is traits over production. Production
does not translate to the NFL.I mean, receiving yards does not translate
to the NFL. Traits do.And so now a lot of those times
you know there's a correlation. Andyou know, you could look at the
(06:19):
guys that were productive in college andsometimes that does carry over, but not
always. At the end of theday, give me the guys that hate
to be blocked. If you're lookingat defensive line and okay, they don't
like to be blocked, what dothey do to get off those blocks?
Do they have the power that you'relooking for? Do they have the understanding
of leverage and understanding of how touse their hands? And a guy like
(06:41):
Byron Murphy, you know he andhe's a fun story because he was a
running back growing up, moved alinebacker in college or in high school,
and then they had they introduced apressure package where the middle linebacker would come
down and kind of rush through thea gap, and he was so good
at it that they're like, allright, sorry, you're a defensive tackle
now, and he ended up breakingHe went to De Soto High School down
(07:03):
in Texas, and Byron Murphy endedup breaking Von Miller's school record for sacks
because he was so good being disruptiveon the interior of that defensive line.
And then he goes to Texas andhe played behind the starters for two years,
got a chance this year to bethe guy, and he was.
Actually, he was an All American. He had an outstanding season, led
all defensive tackles in terms of pressurerate, in terms of getting after the
(07:27):
quarterback and disrupting what the quarterback wasdoing. So even though the rawstacks don't
jump out at you, only fivesacks, eight and a half tackles for
loss, he on a snap tosnap basis, he was more disruptive as
a pass rusher than any other interiordefensive lineman in this class. Dave Brugler
is with us is twenty twenty four. NFL Draft guide is available at the
Athletic dot com. It's called theBeast and it is a terrific resource.
(07:51):
You joined me last year, andI felt like I wasted your time because
for like six minutes we talked abouttight ends, this great tight end class,
and then the Bengals don't take one. So I hear the name brock
Bauers, Folks have talked about.God, if he's there at eighteen,
can you really pass on him?Let's talk about him through a twenty twenty
three lens. Obviously you've got himas the top tight end in this year's
(08:13):
class. Where do you rank himif he's coming out in twenty twenty three,
so in last year's draft, yeah, gosh, yeah he would be.
He would be pretty high. Thefirst tight end drafted last year's Dalton
Kincaid and then the the mid twenties. So I brought Powers would have been
one of the first players would havebeen a top ten pick in last year's
(08:35):
draft. I think people get soobsessed with just the T and the E
next to his name, you know, just that tight end. He's so
much more than that, And Ihope, I just hope he goes to
a spot where the offensive coordinated,the play caller, they understand that,
they understand what he offers and whathe brings, and how he's not just
a guy you're gonna plug in inline, leave him there, and you
(08:58):
know that you just run your offense. You know, he's a guy that
you want in the slot, youwant him out wide, you want him
in the backfield, you want himmoving him all over the formation. So
defense they have to account for that. That is such a weapon that he
can run like a receiver, buthe can block like a tight end,
and he has a versatility to lineup across the field. Why would you
not want that? I understand that. It's you know, the financial part
(09:20):
of this is part of this conversation. You know, if he's drafted top
fifteen, he'll be one of thehigher paid tight ends as soon as he
goes to the NFL. I getthat, But it's we're talking about offensive
impact here that the modern day NFL, you're looking for somebody that affects the
scoreboard. Brock Bauers absolutely does that. And that's why I just I don't
(09:41):
believe he's going to make the eighteen. I would be totally shocked if he
makes it that far. I thinkhe's going to at the end of the
day, he'll go somewhere between nineand fifteen. I think somewhere in that
range, whether that's the Jets atten, the Broncos at twelve, the
Colts at fifteen, or maybe wehave some trade action that kind of messes
that all up. But I thinksomewhere in that range, somewhere in the
(10:03):
top half a round one, brockBauers is going to come off the board.
He's too good not to. Andsomebody's gonna see that vision and really
believe they can make it work.And as long as they have the play
caller to do it, I thinkit'll be a home run. Pick your
colleague at the Athletic Paul Danner Junior, has has written about and he's talked
about with us. The Bengals aretaking a wide receiver. It's coming,
it's happening early, and you couldunderstand why, given what's happening and likely
(10:26):
what's going to happen at that positionfor them. So if I'm targeting a
Day two wide out in Cincinnati,who do I want? Well, you
know, obviously T Higgins is stillon the on the roster and who will
be this season beyond that is abig question mark. So I think in
you know, Tyler Boyds no longerwith the team, and so are they
(10:48):
going to be looking for a slotreceiver and they be looking for an outside
guy? Maybe they want inside outsideversatility. But this is a wide receiver
cloud that is pretty deep, andso it'll stretch second round, third round,
fourth round. In my seven around, Mackat comes out this week,
I don't have him going to receiveruntil the fifth round. It's just kind
of how it worked out with youknow, they because obviously they want to
(11:09):
dress off the line. We couldsee them addressing tight end that the right
guy is there and say the thirdround, you know, is there a
nose tackle worth taking. That's anotherposition that I think they would like to
address. But yeah, with thisreceiver class, I do think that you
can feel comfortable waiting if you want, you could go in that direction in
a round two. You know,if a Ricky Piersoll from Florida, if
(11:31):
he falls to you in round two, I think that'd be a great situation
for both sides because Ricky Pearsall canplay inside, he can play outside.
He can help you from you know, the get go in year one as
a rookie, but also gives youa long term plan at the position.
Jalen Polk from Washington, he's aguy that doesn't really have a there's nothing
about his game at an A plus. But it's a lot of bees across
(11:54):
the board. And so again,if you're drafting a receiver on day two,
you're sacrificing something, and with JalenPolk, you're lacking a true distinguishing
trait. But he also doesn't havean anchor that's going to drop him down
as something that you really concern yourselfabout. His game so I think Jalen
Polk could be in that conversation MalikWashington from Virginia. You know that every
(12:16):
every year someone gets the Steve Smithcomparison, and it's ridiculous every year no
one, no one should get thatcomparison. But if we're going to do
it, Milik Washington would be theclosest thing to that type of receiver where,
yeah, he is small, justlook at five eight and a half
hundred ninety pounds, but he playsso much bigger when the ball's in the
(12:37):
air. He has that mind ballmentality, and you know, I think
he was gonna come off the boardsomewhere and that that third round, late
third round, fourth round. Bengalshave that second third round pick and it's
what ninety seven, that'd be aperfect spot for Malik Washington. So yeah,
this is a receiver class where youcould, I mean realistically talk yourself
into a lot of guys at atseveral different stages of the draft. One
(13:01):
more, I want you to siftthrough your large mental role indecks among the
thousands of players that you have scoutedover the years. And I want to
go back two years ago, theBengals took Dax Hill very late in Round
one. His rookie year kind ofa wash because they still had Jesse Bates
and Von bell He plays exclusively safetylast year and he's he plays unevenly,
(13:22):
and so the Bengals go back andthey bring back Von Bellen free agency,
they signed Geno Stone and so Daxright now, by his own admission,
is kind of a guy without aspecific role that'll be ironed out hopefully here
during the offseason. But when youevaluated him two years ago, where did
you think he would best fit asa pro. Yeah, and that was
the big question, right what wasthe fit because is he a safety?
(13:46):
Is he a nickel? Where arewe going to best play him? And
I think you know he was asafety. I think that's where you probably
best saw him. But he's aguy that you wanted to you know,
he gives you a versatility to youknow, especially when you go into dime
and you go into these uh,you know, dB heavy packages where he
could play Mono mimano with the receiver. He has that type of ability,
(14:09):
has that type of athletic profile,but you can also play in space.
He has range. So I thinkthe versatility was more of a strength or
more of the reason why you wantedto Uh, you know, he thought
he could be a first round pick, and you know he tested like you
want first round picks to test.He has really promising tape with what he
was able to do in the secondaryat Michigan, and so you know,
(14:33):
I'm very, very excited to seewhat he can do. Now, what
is this year three for him?You know, can I take can he
take that next step? It's allabout, Okay, he had the speed,
has the athleticism, has the talent? Can he be a more consistent
playmaker and both against the run andthen in coverage, so instead of just
being a complimentary piece, he's goingout and he's making plays. So I'm
(14:54):
excited excited at the kind of nextstep he can take this year and me
both. Dan Brugler. The twentytwenty four NFL Draft Guide available at the
Athletic dot Com and the full sevenround MOB Draft is coming up soon the
Athletic dot Com. Check that out. Follow Dane on Twitter slash x at
DP. Brugler I always do appreciateit. Enjoy the draft man, Thanks
(15:16):
so much, players Online. ThanksMan, followed Dane on Twitter at DP
Brugler get his twenty twenty four draftguide. Akathebeast right now Attheathletic dot com.
Along those lines, Joe Goodbarry joinsus tomorrow. We are looking forward
to that. That'll be in theI believe the five o'clock hour. What
(15:39):
else, what else, We'll havea reaction in real time to the Reds
game tomorrow, we'll give away moreAerosmith tickets and we'll have a lot of
fun. Thank you so much forjoining us, Thanks to Tarran Bland for
producing. Have a great night.We'll talk to you tomorrow at three oh
five on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati SportsStation. There are more identity threats than
(16:11):
you realize, even if you wantto
No one covers the Bengals like ESPNfifteen thirty, Cincinnati's sports station. All
right, let's get right to it. There's no better NFL Draft guide than
the one published by Dan Brugler fromThe Athletic Get it right now at the
Athletic dot Com. Always great tohave you, Dan, How are you?
I'm good. I appreciate all thosekind words. It's the feedback's been
(00:21):
awesome. You know, you tryto you try to make it better,
bigger and better every year, andyou know, hopefully you know we've been
able to do that. Above all, I just I want the Draft guide
to be a resource. You know, even if you disagree with the player
or disagree with the ranking, youknow, that's that's fine, that's great.
But above all, I promise there'ssomething in there, whether it's background
(00:43):
information, some type of metric,the pro day testing for almost two thousand
players, there's something in here foreverybody. Whether you know you're a diehard
fan or just a casual NFL draftfan, this will be something you are
you're happy you have by your side, especially on draft weekend. Yeah.
Well, put, I love therankings, but more than anything, I'm
into the strengths and weaknesses and theevaluation, and so I printed last week.
(01:07):
I go right to page one hundredand eleven because the Bengals with the
eighteenth overall pick might take an offensivetackle. I want them to take a
tackle. The air apparent to JodahWilliams long term, and I feel like,
if you're going to build an offensiveline, that's got to happen through
the draft, especially when you havea quarterback making Joe Burrow money. And
so I go to the offensive tacklesand it's like it's like going to a
restaurant that has like a thousand thingson the menu that I want to order,
(01:30):
but I could only have one.So let's start there. If I'm
looking at the eighteenth overall pick throughthe lens of wanting an offensive tackle,
who's the guy that I'm hoping fallsto them AD eighteen? You know,
it's tough because we're going to seea lot of tackles come off the board,
There's no doubt about it in thefirst round. But who's going to
be left? You know how manytackles go in those first seventeen picks.
(01:53):
I think if I'm if I'm theBengals and obviously, I'm looking at at
right tackle to least fulographerm Moregon State, JC Latham from Alabama. Those two
guys are really appealing for me,as you know they can help from day
one. We move them inside theguard, you know they get on the
field in some type of capacity.I'm feeling really good about those two guys.
(02:17):
Now, if those two are offthe board, like I think there's
a good chance they could be,then we're looking at Amarus Mims. You're
looking at Tyler Guyton, two guysthat played right tackle in college, but
they are more They need more developmentbefore you're gonna feel super comfortable about them
being on the field. And therethe Bengals are set up in a situation
where they don't need someone to beout there from day one, but you
(02:38):
know what injuries happen, and doyou at least want your first round pick
to get on the field and getsome experience and not not embarrass you,
not embarrass himself. So I thinkit comes down to what their evaluation is
of Memes and Guiton and it's thisis a draft where offensive tackle falls off
a little bit. Now there's alwaysguys, a couple of guys you can
(03:00):
find on Day two, whether it'sa Blake Fisher from Notre Dame or Roger
rose Garden from Washington. I mean, there are some players, but the
demand will far outweigh the supply interms of offensive tackles outside after that eighteenth
pick. So I have my sevenround mock draft coming out this week on
the Athletic and that's the kind ofthe situation I fell into when I'm projecting
(03:23):
the Bengals. If they don't takethat tackle with the eighteenth pick, it
becomes tougher to find that guy forthem in rounds two, rounds three,
rounds four, and before you knowit, we're in round six and we're
drafting a purely development guy. Andthat's a situation they could find themselves in
if they don't take that tackle atpick number eighteen. Yeah, it's exactly
the sort of the way that I'velooked at it. And yet folks will
(03:46):
throw out other players at other positions, and so let's play. You know,
well, what if Byron Murphy,your top rated three technique defensive tackle,
if he's there at eighteen versus oneof the offensive tackle you talked about,
what's the move. I'm a firmbeliever in sticking to your board and
trusting it. You know, youput all this work in, let's you
(04:09):
know, let's stick to what webelieve. And that's why teams have the
vertical board, they have the horizontalboard. And you have to differentiate these
players even I mean, you can'thelp whether it's consciously or subconsciously need factoring
in to your decision making. Butabove all, in the first round,
(04:29):
you should want to come away withthe best available player and defensive tackle.
Even though you know they did makesome moves on that defensive line, it's
still a need area, and especiallyon the interior where you need someone that's
going to help so off the runand you want to get more interior disruption
and Byron Murphy does that. Asmuch as I do want to see a
right tackle, they're at eighteen,I think Byron Murphy might be the best
player that's realistically going to be availablefor them with that eighteenth pick. He
(04:55):
you know, the size, hedoesn't necessarily look like you want your first
round defensive hackle to look. He'ssix ones or six foot and a half,
around three hundred pounds, doesn't havesuper long arms, but he uses
that natural leverage to his advantage.He is a very as talented as he
is with his just physical tools,he's also very skilled with his hands.
(05:16):
That natural twitch that he has throughhis hips and his lower body gives him
this power that allows him to wingaps and he shuts down the run.
He's able to disrupt the backfield action. So I like that Byron Murphy.
If that's the direction they go inthe first round, I think it makes
a ton of sense for what theyneed on that defensive line and just maybe
(05:36):
being the best player available at thatpoint as well from an evaluator standpoint,
because you write up Byron Murphy andyou talk about, Look, the overall
statistical profile isn't great, it gotbetter every single year. If I'm looking
at defensive tackles, how much shouldI pay attention to statistics versus tape study,
(05:57):
measurables and the things that folks likeyourself really dive deep into. I
think for every position, it's thescouting motto is traits over production. Production
does not translate to the NFL.I mean, receiving yards does not translate
to the NFL. Traits do.And so now a lot of those times
you know there's a correlation. Andyou know, you could look at the
(06:19):
guys that were productive in college andsometimes that does carry over, but not
always. At the end of theday, give me the guys that hate
to be blocked. If you're lookingat defensive line and okay, they don't
like to be blocked, what dothey do to get off those blocks?
Do they have the power that you'relooking for? Do they have the understanding
of leverage and understanding of how touse their hands? And a guy like
(06:41):
Byron Murphy, you know he andhe's a fun story because he was a
running back growing up, moved alinebacker in college or in high school,
and then they had they introduced apressure package where the middle linebacker would come
down and kind of rush through thea gap, and he was so good
at it that they're like, allright, sorry, you're a defensive tackle
now, and he ended up breakingHe went to De Soto High School down
(07:03):
in Texas, and Byron Murphy endedup breaking Von Miller's school record for sacks
because he was so good being disruptiveon the interior of that defensive line.
And then he goes to Texas andhe played behind the starters for two years,
got a chance this year to bethe guy, and he was.
Actually, he was an All American. He had an outstanding season, led
all defensive tackles in terms of pressurerate, in terms of getting after the
(07:27):
quarterback and disrupting what the quarterback wasdoing. So even though the rawstacks don't
jump out at you, only fivesacks, eight and a half tackles for
loss, he on a snap tosnap basis, he was more disruptive as
a pass rusher than any other interiordefensive lineman in this class. Dave Brugler
is with us is twenty twenty four. NFL Draft guide is available at the
Athletic dot com. It's called theBeast and it is a terrific resource.
(07:51):
You joined me last year, andI felt like I wasted your time because
for like six minutes we talked abouttight ends, this great tight end class,
and then the Bengals don't take one. So I hear the name brock
Bauers, Folks have talked about.God, if he's there at eighteen,
can you really pass on him?Let's talk about him through a twenty twenty
three lens. Obviously you've got himas the top tight end in this year's
(08:13):
class. Where do you rank himif he's coming out in twenty twenty three,
so in last year's draft, yeah, gosh, yeah he would be.
He would be pretty high. Thefirst tight end drafted last year's Dalton
Kincaid and then the the mid twenties. So I brought Powers would have been
one of the first players would havebeen a top ten pick in last year's
(08:35):
draft. I think people get soobsessed with just the T and the E
next to his name, you know, just that tight end. He's so
much more than that, And Ihope, I just hope he goes to
a spot where the offensive coordinated,the play caller, they understand that,
they understand what he offers and whathe brings, and how he's not just
a guy you're gonna plug in inline, leave him there, and you
(08:58):
know that you just run your offense. You know, he's a guy that
you want in the slot, youwant him out wide, you want him
in the backfield, you want himmoving him all over the formation. So
defense they have to account for that. That is such a weapon that he
can run like a receiver, buthe can block like a tight end,
and he has a versatility to lineup across the field. Why would you
not want that? I understand that. It's you know, the financial part
(09:20):
of this is part of this conversation. You know, if he's drafted top
fifteen, he'll be one of thehigher paid tight ends as soon as he
goes to the NFL. I getthat, But it's we're talking about offensive
impact here that the modern day NFL, you're looking for somebody that affects the
scoreboard. Brock Bauers absolutely does that. And that's why I just I don't
(09:41):
believe he's going to make the eighteen. I would be totally shocked if he
makes it that far. I thinkhe's going to at the end of the
day, he'll go somewhere between nineand fifteen. I think somewhere in that
range, whether that's the Jets atten, the Broncos at twelve, the
Colts at fifteen, or maybe wehave some trade action that kind of messes
that all up. But I thinksomewhere in that range, somewhere in the
(10:03):
top half a round one, brockBauers is going to come off the board.
He's too good not to. Andsomebody's gonna see that vision and really
believe they can make it work.And as long as they have the play
caller to do it, I thinkit'll be a home run. Pick your
colleague at the Athletic Paul Danner Junior, has has written about and he's talked
about with us. The Bengals aretaking a wide receiver. It's coming,
it's happening early, and you couldunderstand why, given what's happening and likely
(10:26):
what's going to happen at that positionfor them. So if I'm targeting a
Day two wide out in Cincinnati,who do I want? Well, you
know, obviously T Higgins is stillon the on the roster and who will
be this season beyond that is abig question mark. So I think in
you know, Tyler Boyds no longerwith the team, and so are they
(10:48):
going to be looking for a slotreceiver and they be looking for an outside
guy? Maybe they want inside outsideversatility. But this is a wide receiver
cloud that is pretty deep, andso it'll stretch second round, third round,
fourth round. In my seven around, Mackat comes out this week,
I don't have him going to receiveruntil the fifth round. It's just kind
of how it worked out with youknow, they because obviously they want to
(11:09):
dress off the line. We couldsee them addressing tight end that the right
guy is there and say the thirdround, you know, is there a
nose tackle worth taking. That's anotherposition that I think they would like to
address. But yeah, with thisreceiver class, I do think that you
can feel comfortable waiting if you want, you could go in that direction in
a round two. You know,if a Ricky Piersoll from Florida, if
(11:31):
he falls to you in round two, I think that'd be a great situation
for both sides because Ricky Pearsall canplay inside, he can play outside.
He can help you from you know, the get go in year one as
a rookie, but also gives youa long term plan at the position.
Jalen Polk from Washington, he's aguy that doesn't really have a there's nothing
about his game at an A plus. But it's a lot of bees across
(11:54):
the board. And so again,if you're drafting a receiver on day two,
you're sacrificing something, and with JalenPolk, you're lacking a true distinguishing
trait. But he also doesn't havean anchor that's going to drop him down
as something that you really concern yourselfabout. His game so I think Jalen
Polk could be in that conversation MalikWashington from Virginia. You know that every
(12:16):
every year someone gets the Steve Smithcomparison, and it's ridiculous every year no
one, no one should get thatcomparison. But if we're going to do
it, Milik Washington would be theclosest thing to that type of receiver where,
yeah, he is small, justlook at five eight and a half
hundred ninety pounds, but he playsso much bigger when the ball's in the
(12:37):
air. He has that mind ballmentality, and you know, I think
he was gonna come off the boardsomewhere and that that third round, late
third round, fourth round. Bengalshave that second third round pick and it's
what ninety seven, that'd be aperfect spot for Malik Washington. So yeah,
this is a receiver class where youcould, I mean realistically talk yourself
into a lot of guys at atseveral different stages of the draft. One
(13:01):
more, I want you to siftthrough your large mental role indecks among the
thousands of players that you have scoutedover the years. And I want to
go back two years ago, theBengals took Dax Hill very late in Round
one. His rookie year kind ofa wash because they still had Jesse Bates
and Von bell He plays exclusively safetylast year and he's he plays unevenly,
(13:22):
and so the Bengals go back andthey bring back Von Bellen free agency,
they signed Geno Stone and so Daxright now, by his own admission,
is kind of a guy without aspecific role that'll be ironed out hopefully here
during the offseason. But when youevaluated him two years ago, where did
you think he would best fit asa pro. Yeah, and that was
the big question, right what wasthe fit because is he a safety?
(13:46):
Is he a nickel? Where arewe going to best play him? And
I think you know he was asafety. I think that's where you probably
best saw him. But he's aguy that you wanted to you know,
he gives you a versatility to youknow, especially when you go into dime
and you go into these uh,you know, dB heavy packages where he
could play Mono mimano with the receiver. He has that type of ability,
(14:09):
has that type of athletic profile,but you can also play in space.
He has range. So I thinkthe versatility was more of a strength or
more of the reason why you wantedto Uh, you know, he thought
he could be a first round pick, and you know he tested like you
want first round picks to test.He has really promising tape with what he
was able to do in the secondaryat Michigan, and so you know,
(14:33):
I'm very, very excited to seewhat he can do. Now, what
is this year three for him?You know, can I take can he
take that next step? It's allabout, Okay, he had the speed,
has the athleticism, has the talent? Can he be a more consistent
playmaker and both against the run andthen in coverage, so instead of just
being a complimentary piece, he's goingout and he's making plays. So I'm
(14:54):
excited excited at the kind of nextstep he can take this year and me
both. Dan Brugler. The twentytwenty four NFL Draft Guide available at the
Athletic dot Com and the full sevenround MOB Draft is coming up soon the
Athletic dot Com. Check that out. Follow Dane on Twitter slash x at
DP. Brugler I always do appreciateit. Enjoy the draft man, Thanks
(15:16):
so much, players Online. ThanksMan, followed Dane on Twitter at DP
Brugler get his twenty twenty four draftguide. Akathebeast right now Attheathletic dot com.
Along those lines, Joe Goodbarry joinsus tomorrow. We are looking forward
to that. That'll be in theI believe the five o'clock hour. What
(15:39):
else, what else, We'll havea reaction in real time to the Reds
game tomorrow, we'll give away moreAerosmith tickets and we'll have a lot of
fun. Thank you so much forjoining us, Thanks to Tarran Bland for
producing. Have a great night.We'll talk to you tomorrow at three oh
five on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati SportsStation. There are more identity threats than
(16:11):
you realize, even if you wantto
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